Wardrobe Analysis.

It’s time we had a talk about the seasonal wardrobe revision. This is one of the most popular personal shopper service, but not one shared so often or so freely. I analysed so many wardrobes in my career, that I can say for sure: “nobody’s perfect”. We all tend to keep everything we buy or get no matter if we wear it or not. Month after month, year after year we grow our wardrobes, buying more and more clothing without any plan in mind. No surprise one day you get very confused with the fact that you have nothing to wear although you closet is overloaded with things. In this article I will tell you how to analyze and organize outfits you already have, and most importantly, help you realise how many and what outfits are incomplete.

I recommend to analyse your wardrobe every season, so at least two times per year. Think of it as a wardrobe detox, material and emotional cleansing, which I promise will lead you to a more meaningful wardrobe, rational money spending habits, and of course, improved appearance.

Stage 1. Analysis and sorting.

If you haven’t guessed it already, at this stage you will need to analyze every single thing in your wardrobe including clothes, shoes, bags, underwear, jewellery, and divide them into the following categories:

1

Give Away

Put together things that you don’t wear and don’t like anymore, but know someone who might need it.

2

Sell

In this category collect things that you don’t wear or plan on not wearing, and that were expensive. Commission stores are always happy to receive any clothing, shoes, bags from well-known luxury brands.

3

Discard

Collect the items in disrepair. And don’t throw anything away. At least, I personally ask you not to do it. Better try to find the time to bring them to the nearest H&M store, because they take absolutely any clothes, in any condition, of any brand for recycling. This way you can help make our planet a little cleaner and at the same time you will receive a 15% discount off your next H&M purchase.

4

Wait

If you still can not understand whether you like some particular item or not, put it in this category.

Leave the things that you wear, love and want to wear in the closet. If some of them look shabby already, but you have nothing to replace them with, then leave them also in your wardrobe until you get new ones. This often happens with the basics such as bras, accessories, outerwear, etc.

Step 2. Outfits composition and estimation.

We’ll start working with things that stayed in your closet and those you put in the box signed “Wait”. For better visibility and structure sort the clothes in your closet in the following order: jackets, cardigans, shirts, blouses, shirts, turtlenecks, sweaters, skirts, pants, jeans and dresses. Lay out stuff from the box on the bed or floor so you can see all of them at a glance. And your shoes, bags and other accessories should also be somewhere closeby.

It’s time to create the outfits. How does one create outfits? It’s quite easy: use a method of trial and error. Really, just experiment, try different combinations, especially the ones you’ve never tried. Be creative. If you find a perfect mix, memorise it and think of a situation you can wear it to. Can you wear it to work? If yes, mark down that one set for work. Continue to create various outfits for your lifestyle.

Those things that have remained unclaimed or you still have a doubt about, put back to the “Wait” box. If you don’t wear them over the next six months, it is obvious you don’t need them. So, feel free to donate or recycle them next time you do wardrobe revision.

Step 3. Summarizing.

It’s time to sum up! At this stage you need to compare your wardrobe abilities with your lifestyle demands. It will help you better understand what kind of outfits you have in excess and which ones you need more of.

Create a table and break it up into three columns: “Activity”, “I have”, “I need”. I can also send you the template, just email me about it.

In the first column enter your lifestyle activities, such as work, study, sport, gardening, parties etc. In the second column enter the number of outfits you already have in your wardrobe for each activity (wardrobe abilities). In the third column write the ideal number of outfits you need for every activity. (This number you had to identify during your lifestyle analysis).

Now you can see and understand clearly what outfits you have too many of, and which are sorely lacking. But this is a problem we’ll tackle next time.

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